II. These things belong to the Christian.

To seek after heavenly things is the great object of the Christian life, just as that of a merchant seeking goodly pearls is to explore those regions where they are supposed to lie. Being partakers of the heavenly calling, Christians have received a solemn summons from God to come out from the world. And our Lord and Master expects us so to walk as to show forth his praise All other pursuits are subordinate-all other pleasures inferior. When we forget these important principles, we lose the sacred and dignified character of Christians.

To set our "affections on things above" is to increase our spir itual-mindedness; and to have this continually augmenting is to add, day by day, to our treasure in heaven. It is natural for men of the world to pursue the things of the world. To do so is a part of their character. But it is equally natural for a Christian to live for heaven, and in the pursuit of eternal good. "Ye are not of the world," says Christ, "even as I am not of the world." No! to all its attractions we have been "crucified together with Him. We are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." How can one professing to be a Christian, if the profession be real, live to the world, as if it were a final portion of good? It is impossible. Earth can have no charms for him, compared with heaven. There God, his Father, dwells; there Christ, his elder brother, ever lives; there are the angels who rejoiced over his conversion, and who long for his arrival to join their company; there are the "spirits of just men made perfect," some of whom were his own friends and fellow-pilgrims, and who have preceded him to glory. Where, then, can his heart be, but in heaven? Whither can his affections tend, but to that brighter world whose joys can never end, and whose glory is unutterable? Those blessed inhabitants drink at the source of the river of the water of life; the Christian sips the stream, but he earnestly desires to share with them in their exalted privilege.

IV. This is the only pursuit that can be permanently successful. Every thing in the present life is uncertain, but heavenly things are secured by the promise of "the God who cannot lie;" who "hath sworn by himself, because He could swear by no greater, that we might have strong consolation." Divine power and faithfulness. good hope, through grace, of "an defiled, and which fadeth not away." firmly, that the heavens and earth of God's word can fail.

They are also secured by the The heirs of salvation have a inheritance incorruptible and unAnd it is secured to them so shall pass away ere one tittle

With the world is an arm of flesh, but with us is an arm of Omnipotence. Therefore our hope is sure and steadfast. Are you desirous of securing this felicity? Then heaven has directed your choice. A light from heaven has shone upon you. It will increase more and more, until you arrive in the regions of unclouded day. To be engaged in a pursuit which will be crowned VOL. IV. T T

with success inspires a feeling of strong confidence, which animates and sustains the mind amid every difficulty. There is a concurrence of the highest reason with the Scriptural precept, which exhorts us to set "our affections on things above."

V. We shall very soon quit the present life.

What is more uncertain than the present life? Its utmost extreme, if it be placed at the farthest limit of the space allotted to us in this probationary scene, removes to a very small distance the hour of our departure. A gray hair, though it may be unobserved, is a silent messenger to announce the approach of death. It reminds us that life is wasting away, and that our earthly house is decaying.

Why, then, should we love a world we must so soon quit? If it were a final condition of our being, the case would be widely different. But it is foolish to cherish a strong desire for its pleasures, when the gratification will so soon be over. If we fix our affections upon this world, we shall soon see the grave of our hopes and joys. How irrational, therefore, to cling to a world we must so soon leave! How vain to attach ourselves so firmly to a structure which will crumble into dust, and bury us beneath its ruins! "The fashion of this world passeth away." Our earthly tabernacle will soon be dissolved. We can transport no earthly possession to the better country. Riches and honours must all be left behind. What propriety and force there are in the exhortation, "Set your affections on things above!"

Good men, when they go away, carry their treasure with them. Then they can triumph in the article of death, and rejoice in the hope of the glory which is to follow.

1. Where things above are, is the residence of Christ, the High Priest and Intercessor. How strong a motive does such a fact supply to place our affections there! Can we forget Him? Can we ever cease to love Him? Then the love we bear to Him, who first loved us, affords, by its influence, additional aid, and imparts additional propriety to our compliance with the precept contained in these words.

2. In proportion as you set your affections on heavenly things, so will your piety increase. Your prayers will be more ardent and sincere; your desires after holiness more deep and strong; your spiritual-mindedness more glowing and operative; your fitness for heaven more manifest day by day. Then "set your affections on things above, and not on things on the earth."

XLV.

MEETNESS FOR HEAVEN.*

COLOSSIANS, i., 12: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

[Preached at Leicester, on the morning and afternoon of a Lord's Day, January, 1811.]

THIS subject, my brethren, is of vast importance, and in making some general preparatory observations, immediately arising from the words now read, I shall remark, first, The apostle ascribes the work of preparing men for heaven to the Father; and, secondly, That it is evidently implied in the text, that none will be admitted to heaven without they are prepared for it. This preparation is the great end of the gospel administration. Its precepts and doctrines are all subservient to this purpose, namely, "To the perfecting of the saints," "for the edifying of the body of Christ." The immediate author is the Holy Spirit; hence true Christians are said to be the fruits of the Spirit, and filled with the fruits of righteousness." Again, a spirit of thankfulness for being made meet for heaven is the constant experience of sincere Christians. They are represented as giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." This is the habitual temper of all true Christians. In order to understand what that preparation is which is here spoken of, it will be proper for us briefly to consider, 1st. The views which are given us of the heavenly state in the Scriptures.

2dly. What those views and principles are.

3dly. The ground this lays for habitual gratitude to God.

66

First. The view here given us of heaven is that of an inheritance. Secondly. It is an inheritance of the saints. Thirdly. It is

in light.

First. It is an inheritance, or an allotted portion. This is an allusion to the possession of the land of Canaan. There was something very particular in the assignment of that land to the children of Israel. It was an inheritance, in distinction from an original possession, and it was to be their abode to succeeding generations; it, therefore, never can be forfeited or alienated; for it is their inheritance. Though they are not, at present, in possession of it, it is still in abeyance for them, and they will certainly enter upon it; for God will never rest until the descendants of his friend, Abraham, again possess it. Moses declares that it was originally assigned to them by God at a very early period. In the 32d chapter of Deuteronomy, and 7th, 8th, and 9th verses, he says, "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many gener

* From the notes of John Greene, Esq.

ations; ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee; when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel; for the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." This account alludes to the general dispersion of mankind, at the building of Babel, when some part of the descendants of Noah went to the east, and some to the west; then it was that the Holy Land was thus marked out, and reserved as "the portion of his people." And what was the reason of this assignment? It was intended to be a standing type of the heavenly inheritance. In this view, the term inheritance conveys two ideas. First, an inalienable and indubitable right: the title to it never can be forfeited; "for in Jesus Christ all the promises are yea, and amen." The heirs of this heavenly inheritance "are kept by Jesus Christ" in a perpetual state of rectitude and holy expectation, and Jesus Christ will one day say unto them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom (as your portion in heaven) prepared for you before the foundation of the world."

Secondly. This view of the heavenly inheritance denotes a firm and unalterable possession. They who enter into it will never more go out; they can never be dispossessed. They will never be assailed by superior force. "They will die no more; they will hunger and thirst no more; they will sin no more ;" but will be equal to, and as, the angels of God. There is nothing here, my brethren, that deserves the name of possession. How little hold can we take of the possessions of this world, as they are called! A thousand circumstances rise up to deprive us of them. Riches "take to themselves wings and fly away;""or what is our life? It is even a vapour;" and what can a vapour grasp? Our life is like a journey: we halt at different stages of it; we then rest from our labour, and another follows and supplies our place.

The second idea suggested is, that it is an inheritance of the saints, viz., that it is not indiscriminately bestowed. It is not for all classes and characters; but as the land of Canaan was for one race of people, so it was typical of the selection that would be made by God for the heavenly Canaan.

It has often been observed that "heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people." The heirs of this inheritance are styled, in Scripture, "saints," or holy persons; as the apostle describes them, "To them that are sanctified by Christ Jesus, and called to be saints." They are separated from the world, from profane to pious purposes; they pass from things visible to things invisible. They are said to be kept in God the Father, and called to be saints, the saints of Christ Jesus. This honour have all the saints, however stigmatized by men of the world.

Our calling is of Christ: then we are to be forming ourselves upon the pattern He has left us. It is a holy calling, a receiving of his testimony as true, a surrendering of ourselves to Him, to be saved and made happy in his own way. This, you see, suggests the necessity

of preparation for heaven; for it is not to be possessed by the unholy, or profane, or by dogs. There are such characters who are styled, in the Scriptures, dogs, viz., all impure and unholy persons. Such as are unawed by the authority of God, that are living after the flesh; these are called dogs.

Thirdly. It is an inheritance of the saints in light. Light is a perpetual property, and consists of these three parts: First, knowledge, or, rather, vision. Secondly, purity. Thirdly, glory.

First. Knowledge, or vision; not that sort of knowledge which is attained here by great labour and uncertainty, for it will then be intuitive, like what visible objects are now to us, striking on the senses at once, which is very different from what we obtain from propositions, or from inference, or analogy.

The Apostle Paul says, "For then shall I see as I am seen, and know even as I am known." Also the Apostle John, "Then we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." The saints shall see his face-the face of the Great Eternal: the Psalmist says, 66 Then shall I be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness;" they shall serve him day and night in his temple, and never more go out. Moses was permitted to see God, while his glory passed by him and he was covered with his hand; but only his back parts, for none can behold his face and live. Isaiah, when he beheld God in the temple in vision, exclaimed, "Wo is me, for I am undone, because mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." Good men, then, shall see God, and heaven is to be the place and mount of vision. Here we have but a little light let in upon our ideas. It is only the refuse of light; but those are regions of clear view-nothing to intercept the vision. Heaven, my brethren, is that state, that pure region of light-"the city of the great King," the gates of which stand open by day, for there is no night there.

How limited, my brethren, are all our faculties and prospects, and how circumscribed, here? We hear and read of the true sayings of God; but how little do we know of him? How many questions occur that we cannot solve? How narrow are the limits and confines of light and knowledge in various respects-as to the mode of existence and perfections of the Divine nature-the mysteries of the death of Christ, dying for the ungodly, and the great purposes and destinies of the whole human race; but in his light we shall see light, for there it is a region of light.

Secondly. It being represented to us as an "inheritance of the saints in light," denotes purity. The Apostle John declares, "If any of us say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." Light being the most clear and defecated substance or property we know or have, is a proper emblem of purity. In heaven there will be nothing but purity. There will be no disorderly passions; there will be no conflicts between the better and worst parts of our nature-the best of men having now to make this confession, "that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," "so that they cannot do the things that they would "